I have had several work meetings this year. Work is writing or teaching writing. Topics: Teaching. A possible collaboration. Branding and so forth. Expanding a project that is coming to an end. Finishing a novel. Possibly doing a long novella on a Shelleyan topic. It was sort of dizzying to hear professionals/peers talking about all these subjects and what was going on with them because these kinds of things have not been happening for me in a long time. I really don't talk much about work to other people. Some of these people I have not seen in years. Since 2005, my writing life has been very limited for all the known reasons. I have already been asked to collaborate by a friend and I am not sure I even have time for that, so I am not collaborating on a new project. I have no interest in upping my social media time, so branding as they described is out. I am not expanding my presence or reinventing it on social media. In fact, I have worked hard to downsize since last year. I did agree to focus on certain topics. That is easy enough. I have to finish the novel this year. I can write the Shelleyan story. All and all these things are exciting and doable. The one wrinkle was I am not expanding my music project. I would not agree with that despite enthusiasm from the group. I may teach a local group of writers how to plot their novels. That is work I like and I have plenty of time to decide. I want 10 people or less for that.
All this reminded me of writing meetings long ago. Or the meetings and topics that writer friends had. Nothing has changed in the industry except what we write. And the same challenges are still there for every single writer. Staying healthy. Finishing the work. Doing the job. That's all about persistence and work. And hoping that someone will buy the work and hoping that someone will read it.
I did laugh a lot and told them I thought I might have two more good novels in me and some shorter pieces. Frankly, that's enough. I would be very satisfied to get all that done.
I haven't blogged much this year. Not likely to change with work on The Ambitious Fairy Project. A novel is a long haul and a big commitment.
What has changed is how I handle these things. How I view the entire writing industry and the ways in which I will negotiate my choices.
